A trip down memory lane

Wow. I must say it's been a long time. I can't even begin to tell you everything you have missed out on this year. I can't help but feel somewhat overwhelmed by the events that have unfolded to make 2007 what it is. I guess I should just pick a few areas and summarize so that we can get caught up. Then maybe I can start writing about new stuff.

Friends:
Let's start with friends. Boy has it been an eventful year. I've made some new friends, lost some old friends; pretty typical I suppose. Nathan, who I met when we by chance became roommates back in the summer of 2006, has since become my absolute best friend. The one I can share everything with. He helped me through a massive breakup early last year and has continued to be there for me through thick and thin. I've met a lot of people this year, and I'm going to talk about how in the next section but needless to say it's been a wild ride.

Earlier in 2007 things got pretty rough with Rob. I think the fact that I was so bitter about the break-up that I wanted to get back at him. In the process of all this backstabbing we both really hurt each other pretty badly. We haven't had a decent conversation in over a year now because of it, and haven't spoken at all in about 8 months. Ironically when we do bump into each other we don't even so much as make eye contact. It's pretty awful and I absolutely hate it. May 2nd I have been invited by Kris to go out on Craig's boat for splash. Rob, who is very good friends with Craig, will also be there. So I've started trying to at least re-build some bridges. I don't want our past to make everyone's time awkward so I'm hoping we can hash out some things soon.

Another noteworthy friendship has been that with Austin, my current roommate. If you asked me how we met I couldn't tell you much other than "through Rob Con". We started thinking about being roommates toward the time my lease at longhorn landing was up in summer of last year. At long last we found a quint little place downtown on 11th street. The apartment is absolutely incredible and I love everything about it...except the rent haha. I'm hoping I will be able to buy a house in the not so distant future for a tax shelter and to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. it's beginning to wear on me.

Social Circles
These have been so fluid over the past year it's not even funny. Last march I met Clay...the boy that would change everything. We met at Oil Can Harry's. He was stripping one night and I thought he was so cute, so I gathered my nerves and asked for his number. The next week we were going to the club together and kaboom...one night stand. I can't say I regret it but I do wish things had been different, for that's the straw that broke the camel's back in my friendship with Rob Con. Through Clay I met some pretty interesting characters and before long I joined the ranks of the social elite of the austin "scene". I knew/still know pretty much everyone, and I can safely say when the door men at OCH know you by name and don't ask for ID anymore then you've been going there far too often. Clay was more of a summer fling however and with school coming to an end and the onslaught of full-time employment drawing near my social life was soon to take a very real shift.

Late summer I joined Austin on a weekend camp out on the good ship Ariel on lake Travis for splash. I had just met a guy I really liked named Jack at a graduation party and we seemed to be hitting it off. We all stayed 3 days and 2 nights on a boat with no more than 100 sq ft of living space, and I can safely say...WHAT A BLAST! I spent most of the summer weekends on the boat and juggling my part-time employment at Freescale while finishing 5 hours of coursework for my degree at UT.

Once the end of the summer came and school began things changed. I was working full-time and trying to adjust to suddenly having more money than I knew what to do with and no time to spend it...don't worry...I found the time :). I was still trying to maintain a social status by going out but the late nights and early mornings soon wore me out. I was spending as much time as humanly possible on Joe's boat during the weekend while trying not to go insane from boredom during the week.

I'm not really going to get into but Joe and I have had a pretty major falling out. He's not thought of very highly in the community and his attachment to me was beginning to grow beyond my comfort zone. Since then I have been taking the free time to take some fitness classes, rekindle old friendships, and make new ones. I've begun hanging out with Alex Cherry, Kris Garcia, and company which has been very refreshing from the lights and flashiness of scene life. Nathan and of course my roommate Austin have also kept me company, and work....has been insane to say the least.

Relationships
This one has been somewhat interesting over the past year. Way back in January/February Rob and I had just broken up but we were trying to keep a friendship going. Although in all honesty most everyone thought it was still a relationship given the circumstances. March began without a hitch until one night when we were at the club and my eye caught a boy that I thought was just the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. Clay is his name, and after him things would change drastically. I must admit in hind site that the way events progressed could have been better. Rob became pretty jealous and after I rejected him when he asked me to take him back (for reasons I won't get into), and he and I really haven't spoken since save the ocassional random hello.

Clay and I never had what you would call a relationship; although sadly I didn't find this out until after the fact. It wasn't until two months down the road that I realized I was nothing more than a fuck buddy for him. Needless to say since I had subconsciously replaced a void that rob had left with him it gouged me pretty deep. We have stayed pretty good friends but about 4 months Ago he moved to New York and I haven't heard much from him since.

Last may, I met Jack. Things seemed to start off great and finally I thought I had found someone. Sadly, things just didn't seem to click and our relationship remained quite stagnant for a while. I think it wasn't until September sometime that we finally decided enough was enough and it wasn't going to work out. Although what we had was never a relationship either but more a friendship with benefits so to speak. Luckily though, Jack and I, despite some minor difficulties, have remained to this day very good friends.

I spent much of the last 8 months or so bouncing back and forth between crushes never really finding anything. I even went through a rather depressing phase where I was convinced that Rob was the only one for me and I'd never find anyone ever again. One person; however, would change all that. There was one crush, although short lived, that dragged me out of that phase and into the place that I am now...pure and utter content. Kris has been a friend of mine for sometime now but for some reason, and don't ask me why, I latched on. We had been spending more and more time together and all of a sudden I finally felt as though things were looking up and like I could finally move on. I admitted my feelings to him and was denied, but not in a bad way I suppose. I was really just happy to have developed a much closer friendship with Kris and finally I now know I'm free of the ball and chain that was longing for someone I could/would/will never have again. I'm ready for the next chapter in my life now, and I couldn't be more excited.

Work
So when I last blogged here I had just received my full-time offer from Freescale, and was working part-time for them as a contractor through an environmental consulting company called Cook-Joyce Inc. I spent much of 2007 doing special projects and a senior thesis/research project. In cooperation with UT I investigated the feasibility of treating the industrial wastewater stream at one of Freescale's Austin, TX facilities in order for it to be re-used on-site for cooling purposes. I collected samples, did bench-scale testing and unit operations, designed a full scale system and built a cost estimate based on that design. Working with a team of engineers from Freescale I identified the potential for millions of dollars in savings annually and wrote my senior thesis on this design. Needless to say, it was a busy summer.

On August 27th, 2007 I began my full-time career. After taking a two week vacation in Maine with family, I returned to Austin to begin work. I began taking ownership of various programs within the Environment, Health, and Safety group as well as continuing special project support as needed. I have since done everything from hob-knobbing with executives at the HRC gala, being asked to sit-in for our CEO at an Austin Symphony concert, helping to draft various awareness emails and posters throughout the city, applying for and winning awards for Freescale's environmental programs, and even finding nearly $200,000 in annual savings for the company.

After six months full-time I have two offices in Austin, I have become the contact for statistics and reporting in Austin, met most of the company's executives, been given a raise, and scheduled to review for a promotion. Needless to say this is one aspect of my life that has been a resounding success and I am sure will continue in that fashion.

School
I suppose there isn't too much to say here. I graduated with honors in August of 2007 with a Bachelors of Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. I received the distinguished honor of Senior of the Year in Chemical Engineering for 2007 which came with a scholarship. Not to mention UT ChE is ranked among the top 10 ChE schools in the nation and graduating with a 3.5 GPA has been no small task. I'm not trying to brag too much here but to be honest I put in four years of excruciating work for this accomplishment. I sacrificed a social life and worked 20-30 hours per week while taking 17 hours per semester of engineering classes. Not to mention averaging 9 hours of classes each summer as well as working full-time. I poured my heart and soul into getting this degree so I think I'm entitled to a little bragging.

Some other achievements of my college career have been founding a student organization, receiving the Intel Undergraduate Research Fellowship for my nanotechnological research on particle interactions in advanced co-polymer matrices. I received University Honors 4 semesters in a row and was a member of Longhorn Band.

Family
So if you're wondering wether or not I have come out to my family the answer is...sorta... My sister and cousins, yes. My parents no...although my sister swears that they know and I must say I agree. It has been a pretty typical year but overall the family is doing well. My mom and dad are still working their same jobs while my sister has recently begun her journey as a college student. She is majoring in math and Keneisiology at UT and strives to some day be a statistician. I still go home most every sunday just to visit and catch up; overall, things are good.

So what's next?
Good question. I honestly don't know and that's what excites me. I'm working on my Professional Engineer's (PE) license with the state currently and plan on getting an MBA in the not so distant future. Relationship wise I can really only ponder and hope that I will find that special guy soon. I hope to buy a house in the next few years and settle down with someone. Needless to say, I haven't really thought much into that part.

All I know is I'm at a stage in my life where anything goes. I am almost free in every since of the word and I have nothing but my happiness and content to show for it. The only way forward is up and I'm nearly on cloud nine...